Easing the blow of the UK ban on smoking in public spaces that came into effect on July 1st, TankBooks is selling books packaged like cigarettes—right down to the cellophane wrapping on the outside and silver foil on the inside. Despite their diminutive size, the first series of TankBooks aren't the intellectual equivalent of Menthol Lights. Pitched as 'tales to take your breath away', the box-packed reads range from Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" to Kafka's "Metamorphosis". While perhaps not tempting enough for every smoker to kick the habit and take up reading instead, it's a start.
TankBooks are the brain child of Tank, a British think tank, creative agency and publishing unit. Clever way to profit from a current event (the smoking ban), using great design to repackage classic works that are in the public domain, freeing TankBooks from having to pay royalties. To take the concept to the hilt, TankBooks obviously need to be sold from cigarette vending machines. Which reminds us of a venture we covered back in 2003—Art-o-mats, the repurposed vintage vending machines selling small pieces of art. Adding pack-sized books to the mix should be a no-brainer for publishers and vending machine aficionados.
Website: www.tankmagazine.com/tankbooks
Contact: emily@tankform.com
Spotted by: Elizabeth Wu
this looks much more like a quick hype than a sustainable and innovative business idea. ??
"TankBooks pay homage to this monumentally successful piece of packaging design..." by inappropriately using it to massively overpackage books... book wrapped in cardboard box, partly in foil, then box in cellophane... would you like a bag with that too..?